Rafael Dias

Three additional bouts have been added to World Extreme Cagefighting’s upcoming first venture to Chicago, where the promotion will hold WEC 40 on April 5. The show’s main event features WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Angel Torres defending his title against top contender Brian Bowles.

Added to the event’s televised main card is a lightweight bout between Team Takedown member Shane Roller and Maximum Fighting Championship veteran Ben Henderson. Roller has won two straight WEC fights, submitting both Todd Moore and Mike Budnik via guillotine choke, while Henderson did the same to Anthony Njokuani in his WEC debut in January.

Fresh off of suffering his first professional loss in a failed bid to dethrone Tapia from atop his bantamweight perch back in December is Manny Tapia, who will take on a more experienced opponent in Japanese veteran Akitoshi Tamura. “Ironman” fell in his WEC debut at WEC 37 as well, losing a hard-fought battle to Wagnney Fabiano.

Joining Tapia and Tamura on the preliminary portion of the card will be a featherweight clash between Rafael Dias and Cole Province. Both fighters were defeated in their WEC debuts: Dias fell to Danny Castillo via second-round TKO at WEC 36 while Province dropped a decision to Diego Nunes at WEC 37.

The Florida State Boxing Commission has released the official list of medical suspensions stemming from this week’s WEC 36: “Faber vs. Brown” event, which took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on November 5.

American Top Team product Mike Brown upset top-ranked featherweight Urijah Faber in the show’s main event to claim the WEC featherweight title. Chael Sonnen was also victorious in his rematch against Paulo Filho and Leonard Garcia scored a first-round stoppage of Jens Pulver in televised bouts as well.

Brown has been suspended indefinitely, receiving the longest layoff by the commission after sustaining a rib injury during his win over Faber. David Avellan, who suffered a brutal 18 second knockout loss to Aaron Simpson, has been medically suspended for two months.

We will be going live at 5:30 PM ET with complete results from tonight’s WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown event, which will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The show’s televised main card will air on Versus starting at 8 PM ET.

WEC 36 is headlined by Urijah Faber once again defending his featherweight title against gritty top contender Mike Thomas Brown. In addition, WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho will meet Chael Sonnen in a non-title rematch of their December 2007 fight and former UFC lightweight title holder Jens Pulver will look to get back on track against rising featherweight Leonard Garcia.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments throughout the evening. Detailed live results are after the jump.

WEC middleweight title holder Paulo Filho came in an astounding seven pounds over the 185 lb. limit at the weigh-ins for WEC 36 on Tuesday afternoon, putting his championship rematch against Team Quest product Chael Sonnen in jeopardy.

After the two-hour allotted time limit, Filho was only able to cut down to 188 lbs, making his showdown against Sonnen a non-title affair. Sonnen will be awarded 25% of Filho’s purse.

In addition, featherweight title challenger Mike Brown came in a half pound over the featherweight limit and jiu-jitsu wizard Rani Yahya weighed-in one pound over the bantamweight requirements for his fight against Yoshiro Maeda. Brown was quickly able to shed the extra baggage while Maeda has agreed to face Yahya without forcing him to cut weight again.

Two changes to separate preliminary fights have finalized the fight card for this week’s WEC 36 event, which will take place on Wednesday, November 5 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member Alex Schoenauer was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Steve Steinbeiss after tearing his hamstring during a recent training session. Schoenauer was actually a replacement for light heavyweight prospect Mark Munoz who also injured during his preparation for Steinbeiss. The Argentinan will be replaced by a fellow UFC veteran, American Kickboxing Academy product Carmello Marrero.

He may not have been hit by the injury bug prior to Wednesday’s show, but Ed Ratcliff has been removed from the undercard for unknown reasons. Ratcliff was slated to take on Danny Castillo, who will now try to pick up his first WEC win against newcomer Rafael Dias, a veteran that has competed for the likes of BodogFight and the IFL in the past. The updated lineup for the event is after the jump.

Jim Miller landing a punch on Bart Palaszewski. Photo courtesy of the International Fight League.

The International Fight League returned to the Izod Center in New Jersey tonight, presenting what may very well have been the deepest fight card in the promotion’s history. It turned out to be very exciting night of fights that included some massive knockouts along with a vicious submission toward the end of the night.

With the IFL just opening up the lower level of the Izod Center while curtaining the upper, it looked like a great venue. It was set up a bit differently than the last time the IFL was in town for the League semi-finals last August. And while the crowd ended up filling 2/3 of the bottom bowl, it was a good deal less than last year’s. The theme of the night within the crowd seemed to be cheering for the underdog, as each had some very vocal supporters in the crowd. To my happiness, I had the pleasure of sitting next to some extremely knowledgeable fans who really knew and appreciated the sport. Thankfully, I didn’t have to sit next to the guy 3 sections over screaming “use the elbows!”, something that is illegal in the IFL. I’d like to thank Drew and friends for their conversation and knowledge of the sport. On to the action!

Ryan Schultz throws a right hand at John Gunderson. Photo courtesy of the International Fight League.

LAS VEGAS - Lightweight Ryan Schultz and heavyweight Roy Nelson defended their respective International Fight League titles and middleweight Ryan McGivern won his first belt before 3,931 at the IFL event last night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Schultz grinded out a unanimous decision over John Gunderson to retain his title, maintaining strong position throughout the match. Most of the bout was contested on the ground, with both fighters escaping potential chokes in the final two rounds.

Nelson earned a first-round TKO victory over Fabiano Scherner to defend his heavyweight crown. Nelson took Scherner down midway through the round and used a flurry of right hands to secure the stoppage at 3:20.

In what many felt was the best bout of the night, McGivern topped defending champion Matt Horwich by unanimous decision in a battle in which both fighters had strong moments.

Horwich nearly secured an armbar at the end of the second round, when McGivern was likely saved by the bell. In the closing seconds of the fourth round, McGivern delivered a series of strikes that staggered the former champion, but the champion held on until the bell.